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Family sues Cuba, wins court judgment
A judge awards $67-million in the case of a businessman executed after the Bay of Pigs invasion.
©Associated Press
April 19, 2003
MIAMI -- The widow and four children of an American businessman executed by a Cuban firing squad at the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion have won a judgment for $67-million in damages against the Cuban government.
The family of Howard Anderson won the judgment Thursday on a lawsuit filed two years ago based on an act that lets Americans sue foreign countries or individuals responsible for terrorism. Circuit Judge Ellen Leesfield's award was a fraction of the almost $600-million the family requested.
The Cuban government ignored the suit and wasn'trepresented in court.
Anderson, 41, had lived and worked in Cuba for years when he was charged with conspiracy during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. He was sentenced to death, an appeal was quickly rejected and he and eight others were shot.
Leesfield awarded $40-million in compensatory damages to the survivors for their economic losses -- based on a calculation of what Anderson's businesses and estate would be worth today. Anderson owned a car dealership, three gas stations and a boat manufacturing business in Havana.
The judge also awarded $27-million in compensatory damages for pain and suffering.
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